Pro Bowl Players Announced

PRO BOWL KICKS OFF SUPER BOWL WEEK IN PRIMETIME ON ESPN ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 25

The 2015 Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 25, 2015 and televised live on ESPN at 8:00 PM ET from University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.

For the second consecutive season, the Pro Bowl will be “unconferenced.” Gone is the familiar AFC vs. NFC match-up that had existed since 1971. Instead, players were selected without regard to conference in voting by fans, coaches and players.

The Denver Broncos placed a league-best nine players in the Pro Bowl, which will be held prior to the Super Bowl for the sixth consecutive year and serve as the signature kickoff event of Super Bowl week.

The Pro Bowl players were determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counted one-third toward determining the 86 Pro Bowl selections announced today. Two additional “need” players will be chosen by each head coach and must be long snappers. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams. In 1995, the NFL became the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting.

Players will be assigned to teams through the Pro Bowl Draft, which will air on Wednesday, January 21 on NFL Network (8:00 PM ET). Pro Football Hall of Famers CRIS CARTER and MICHAEL IRVIN will serve as alumni team captains for their Pro Bowl squads – Team Carter and Team Irvin – and have final say over draft decisions. Pro Football Hall of Famers JOHN RANDLE (Team Carter) and DARREN WOODSON (Team Irvin) will serve as defensive co-captains. The NFL legends will also each be assisted by two active player captains and two Lenovo Fantasy Coach of the Year winners in the draft process.

On the offensive line, the six guards are JAHRI EVANS (6th) of New Orleans, MIKE IUPATI of San Francisco (3rd), KYLE LONG of Chicago (2nd), rookie ZACK MARTIN of Dallas (1st), JOSH SITTON of Green Bay (2nd) and MARSHAL YANDA of Baltimore (4th).

Eight cornerbacks were named to the 2015 Pro Bowl, including CHRIS HARRIS (1st) and AQIB TALIB (2nd) of Denver. They are joined by VONTAE DAVIS of Indianapolis (1st), BRENTGRIMES of Miami (3rd), JOE HADEN of Cleveland (2nd), PATRICK PETERSON of Arizona (4th), DARRELLE REVIS of New England (6th) and RICHARD SHERMAN of Seattle (2nd).

On special teams, the return specialists are Atlanta’s DEVIN HESTER (4th) and Philadelphia’s DARREN SPROLES (1st). The special teamers are JUSTIN BETHEL of Arizona (2nd) and MATTHEW SLATER of New England (4th). Cincinnati’s KEVIN HUBER (1st) and Indianapolis’ PAT MC AFEE (1st) are the Pro Bowl punters. STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI of New England (3rd) and ADAM VINATIERI of Indianapolis (3rd) will handle the kicking duties.